Tag: Friday Night Lights (11-20 of 39)

Welcome to episode 19 of Clear Lists, Full Drafts, Can’t Lose, the only podcast for fantasy television drafts! Forget fantasy football—join us for fantasy TV.

We have done a lot of top 10 lists on the podcast, and we’ve finally made our way to one of the first things you see when watching a show: the opening credits. This week, Brooke, Joey, and I count down our top 10 opening credits sequences.Read More

There is nothing worse than a parent’s disappointment. Growing up, hearing that my parents were disappointed in me always stung more than them just being angry. I realize now that it was worse for them, too. Being let down by someone you’ve chosen to believe in is a miserable experience.

This was all I could think about as I watched “I Think We Should Have Sex.” Friday Night Lights has set Tim Riggins up to be the person most often disappointing other people, but this time it is he who is let down.Read More

“Black Eyes and Broken Hearts” is one of the more subtly beautiful episodes of Friday Night Lights. It picks up right in the middle of the mess that started in the previous episode. Mac McGill got himself into some serious hot water when he made racially charged remarks during a postgame interview.

Rather than copping to his mistake and accepting responsibility, Mac chose to ignore the outrage, remaining adamant that he said nothing wrong and offering an empty public apology in an attempt to appease his angry players. But the problem isn’t going away. The black players have all decided to strike, stating Mac’s termination as the condition of their return to uniform.Read More

There is plenty of drama and intensity in “Blinders,” but it is also one of the funnier episodes of Friday Night Lights. When Tami discovers that Julie and Tyra have been cutting P.E. class, she comes up with the greatest punishment imaginable: They have to play in the Powderpuff football game.

The Powderpuff game is an all-girl football game coached by two Panther players. Neither Julie nor Tyra is happy about the arrangement and, as luck would have it, the two Panther coaches are Matt and Tim, their respective exes. Zach Gilford has a chance to showcase his comedic chops as Matt stumbles through picking his team (making the mistake of picking Julie third), and then trying to coach with a quarterback who isn’t up to the task.Read More

This time of year, many people are making New Year’s resolutions pertaining to fitness or finance. But here at EW’s The Community, we are dedicating ourselves to making 2015 the best year ever for binging on the classics, avoiding spoilers, and creating new fan(atic)s of our favorite shows.

To celebrate the year in TV, we at The EW Community decided to vote on our favorite shows of 2014. Any show recapped on The Community was eligible, including shows no longer on the air, like Friday Night Lights, Gilmore Girls, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Our writers chose from the over 150 shows recapped this year and whittled those down to a mere 10.

Here are the top 10 shows of 2014, as voted on and covered by the Entertainment Weekly Community.

So, how many of you are watching Friday Night Lights for the first time? Are you hooked yet? Are you starting to understand my undying love for Tim Riggins? This episode, “Upping the Ante,” is a big turning point in the way the audience gets to see Tim. Up until now, there have been small breadcrumbs thrown out about who Tim’s parents are and where they went. But here, we finally get to see the way the family dynamic is set up. Billy, as the older brother, has a much clearer picture of the kind of man their father is.

Tim, despite his apparent toughness and indifference to most things, still holds onto the idea that he was a good man who must have had his reasons for leaving. When Tim needs a parent’s signature to avoid losing his driver’s license, Billy can’t stop him from going to seek out their dad. He warns Tim not to get drunk with him and to leave as soon as he gets what he needs. From the moment Tim see his father, though, it’s clear that he has been desperate for this connection. Read More

Families are complicated. Families can be loving, messy, dysfunctional, and fiercely loyal—many times, they’re all of those things at once. Is it coincidence that three of my favorite TV shows not only tackle that very complexity in much the same vein, but do it with many of the exact same actors?

Not when you discover that the man behind all of them is the same person, and not when you find out that Jason Katims—creator and showrunner of such hits (some of my faves) as Friday Night Lights, Parenthood, and About a Boy—is, simply put, all about family himself.

If you’re a fan of more than one of his shows, Jason Katims’ Midas touch is evident. If you’re not, you should be. But until you have time to do some serious binge watching (all three of these shows are available to stream on Netflix), I’ll give you a quick rundown of a sample of the overlap—the “Katims-isms,” if you will—and try my best to do it without posting a complicated Venn diagram (but don’t think I haven’t made one).Read More

Friday Night Lights is always about many different things. It’s a show about football, and yet, it’s about so much more. This week, Smash Williams learned this same lesson about life. There’s a lot more to it than football.

Smash feels a lot of pressure. With no father and a mother working two jobs to help them make ends meet, his goal has always been to go pro in football and take care of his family forever. It’s easy to forget that he’s a 16-year-old kid. Smash failing to make Grady Hunt’s list wasn’t just disappointing; it presented Smash for the first time with the possibility that he wouldn’t be able to provide for his family. His selfishness in using steroids is more selfless than it looks at first glance. To his thinking, the well-being of his entire family hinges on his success on the football field.

There’s a scene in Jimmy Fallon’s 2005 Fever Pitch that perfectly sets the mood for this episode of Friday Night Lights. After his beloved Red Sox lose another game to the Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series, Fallon’s character, Ben, finds himself at a bar drowning his sorrows. As he sits there, miserable, he sees some of the Sox players at another table, talking, laughing, and generally enjoying their evening.

It is a scene that reminds us that being the spectator is often harder than being the player. When you’re the one on the field, you’re in control. When you’re in the stands, all you can do is sit and hope and wait.Read More

Expression Of JoyThe Brady Bunch: Groovy! The Bradys: Ritual hugging Married…With Children: ”Oh, great.” Thirtysomething: ”Of course I’m happy for you. Really. But what about me? Why does it always have to be about you? The Flintstones: ”Yabba-dabba doo

Expression Of Rage

The Brady Bunch: ”Hmmm…” The Bradys: ”If you back away from something you really want, then you’re a quitter!” (the angriest any Brady has ever been) Married…With Children: ”Aaagh, God, take me from this miserable life!” Thirtysomething: ”I’m not angry, OK?” The Flintstones: ”Willllmaaaa!”

Typical ProblemThe Brady Bunch: Marcia and her rival both want to be the prom queen. The Bradys: Bobby gets paralyzed. Married…With Children: Al doesn’t buy his family Christmas presents. Thirtysomething: Nancy gets cancer. The Flintstones: Fred and Barney are staying out too late.

Typical SolutionThe Brady Bunch: The prom committee decides to have two queens. The Bradys: Bobby gets married. Married…With Children: They hate him. Thirtysomething: If only we knew… The Flintstones: Wilma and Betty decide to follow them.

Attitude Toward SexThe Brady Bunch: Never heard of it The Bradys: Omigod — even Cindy does it! Married…With Children: Peg: Yes. Al: No. Thirtysomething: They didn’t get all those kids by accident. The Flintstones: Prehistoric

How Spouses FightThe Brady Bunch: They don’t. The Bradys: Infrequently, but it happens Married…With Children: Tooth and nail Thirtysomething: They stop talking The Flintstones: Fred and Barney go bowling while Wilma and Betty max out their charge cards.

How Kids Get Into TroubleThe Brady Bunch: Greg takes a puff of a cigarette. The Bradys: Carol’s grandson steals her business cards and sticks them in the spokes of Bobby’s wheelchair. Married…With Children: By committing felonies Thirtysomething: Ethan plays with a forbidden toy rocket. The Flintstones: They don’t.

How They’re Punished

The Brady Bunch: ”It’s not what you did, honey — it’s that you couldn’t come to us.” The Bradys ”Next time, ask.” Married…With Children: By the authorities Thirtysomething: It blows up in his face. The Flintstones: They’re not.

What Family Does For FunThe Brady Bunch: Takes special three-part vacations to Hawaii and the Grand Canyon The Bradys: Has flashbacks Married…With Children: Exchanges insults Thirtysomething: Talks The Flintstones: Attends showings of The Monster at the Bedrock Drive-In

Unsolved MysteriesThe Brady Bunch: How exactly did Carol’s first husband and Mike’s first wife die? The Bradys: What’s with Marcia’s new face and Bobby’s blonde hair Married…With Children: What kind of hair spray does Peg use? Thirtysomething: Why did Nancy take Elliot back? What do Gary and Susanna see in each other? The Flintstones: How does Barney’s shirt stay on if he has no shoulders? Where do Fred and Wilma plug in their TV?

Worst BehaviorThe Brady Bunch: The Brady children once made Alice feel under-appreciated.

Best Reason To WatchThe Brady Bunch: This is what life should be. The Bradys: They’re all grown-ups now! Married…With Children: Terry Rakolta hates it. Thirtysomething (Tie) This is your life. This isn’t your life. The Flintstones: This is what life might have been.

Best Reason Not To WatchThe Brady Bunch: Blurred vision from rerun overdoses. The Bradys: You’re all grown-ups now. Married…With Children: She has a point. Thirtysomething: After a while, you think it’s real. The Flintstones: The Simpsons